The present invention relates generally to manufacturing and testing of semiconductor devices, more particularly, to determining die performance by incorporating neighboring die performance metrics.
There is a constant drive within the semiconductor industry to increase the quality, reliability and throughput of integrated circuit devices, e.g., microprocessors, memory devices, and the like. This drive is fueled by consumer demands for higher quality computers and electronic devices that operate more reliably. These demands have resulted in a continual improvement in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, e.g., transistors, as well as in the manufacture of integrated circuit devices incorporating such transistors. Additionally, reducing the defects in the manufacture of the components of a typical transistor also lowers the overall cost of integrated circuit devices incorporating such transistors.
Generally, a distinct sequence of processing steps is performed on a lot of wafers using a variety of processing tools, including photolithography steppers, etch tools, deposition tools, polishing tools, rapid thermal processing tools, implantation tools, etc., to produce final products that meet certain electrical performance requirements. In some cases, electrical measurements that determine the performance of the fabricated devices are not conducted until relatively late in the fabrication process, and sometimes not until the final test stage.
Long term reliability of fabricated devices is validated in semiconductor manufacturing by accelerated stressing of potentially faulty parts through a burn-in process. Burn-in is the single most expensive process packaged parts go through, so ideally only a small percentage of production should undergo burn-in. Burn-in is a method where an IC device is subjected to stress level operating conditions for the purpose of accelerating early failures that may occur when the IC device is assembled in a product. Burn-in generally involves elevating the temperature of an IC device beyond normal operating conditions and electrically exercising the IC device.
Burn-in testing by stressing a group of IC devices may weed out weak IC devices, but it also weakens the IC devices that do not fail and thus reduces the quality of the remaining IC devices. Burn-in may be used to improve the manufacturing process of a particular IC device. During burn-in testing, IC devices are stressed to failure, the failures are analyzed, and the results of the analysis are used to modify the manufacturing process.
Due to the expensive nature and potentially destructive nature of burn-in testing, only the most at-risk parts should undergo burn-in. Due to the complexity of integrated circuit devices, and the costs associated with screening devices to identify which are most at-risk, it is often difficult to identify the population that should be subjected to burn-in.
This section of this document is intended to introduce various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention described and/or claimed below. This section provides background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. It should be understood that the statements in this section of this document are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.